Carrying bags incorporating closure and illumination means or devices are known. For example, re-closable carrying bags have been including illumination means to light up the interior of a carrying bag to provide useful facilities to a user, for example, for searching items inside the carrying bag when in a dark environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,611 describes a handbag with an actuator which closes the contact of a control switch and turn on a light source when the handbag or purse is opened.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,605 describes a purse with an illumination device and a manual switch to turn on and off a light bulb inside the carrying bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,162 describes an automatic magnetic actuation system for inner illumination of a container in which an illumination means is turned on by magnetic induction when a closure flap of the handbag is moved away from a switching device.
Carrying bags equipped with means for automatic actuation of an inner illumination means when the carrying bags are opened provide security alert to a user, especially in a crowded or a dark environment when the handbag can be more easily and adversely tampered.
However, known closure and illumination means for use in carrying bags are not satisfactory. For example, the illumination means of the handbag described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,162 require a relatively complicated circuitry with wirings distributed inside the carrying bag and with the closure parts separately mounted from the illumination switching device. Hence, it would be highly desirable if there can be provided improved closure and illumination means and carrying means incorporating same so that the carrying bags can be easily opened and closed and, at the same time, when the carrying bag is inadvertently or adversely opened, the light will be automatically lit to alert the owner. Of course, the actuated light can also help the bag owner when searching for items inside the bag.
In this specification, the term “carrying bags” refers generally to portable containers including, but not limited to, containers with flexible closure means such as handbags or purses and containers with semi-rigid or substantially rigid closure parts such as suitcases, briefcases, make-up case, or pilot cases.